


O Holy Night!

by sadieb798



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Awkward Dates, Dallas Stars, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Ensemble Cast, Friends to Lovers, In a way, Jamie's clueless, M/M, casino night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-25 21:56:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17129453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadieb798/pseuds/sadieb798
Summary: Jamie doesn’t know that he and Tyler are dating. Good thing his teammates know better.





	O Holy Night!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Menacherie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menacherie/gifts).



> Happy Holidays!
> 
> There were so many good AU ideas you had. _So_ many. But this one ended up being the choice, I hope you enjoy it.  
> Ever-loving gratitude to Jill for continuing to be a good friend to screech ideas at, and who is nothing but encouraging (even when I won't shut up). Love ya lots.

**O Holy Night!**

 

“Sorry, what?” Jamie asks, blinking. He couldn’t have heard that right. It’s too loud in here, that's the only explanation -

“When did you and Segs start dating?” Devin repeats, just a smidge louder to be heard over the chattering that Jamie’s come to associate with Casino Night.

“Yeah,” agrees Brett, his dirty blond hair slicked back, a glass of scotch in hand.

Jamie feels his cheeks heat; he thinks it can be played off as pleasure over the subject matter instead of actual embarrassment that his _secret crush_ might not have been so secret after all.

“Well, uh,” he clears his throat, his hand going up automatically to loosen his tie; it has started to feel like a noose around his neck. “That, uh, that depends. W-when did you guys know we were a couple?”

There’s no harm in asking, Jamie reasons with himself, so that way he’ll know when things went wrong. Oh, god - he hopes Tyler hasn’t been getting the same interrogation that he is, otherwise he’ll be _really_ embarrassed. Without his permission, Jamie’s eyes automatically go to the roulette table where Tyler’s been hanging out all night. He’s leaning against it, a big toothy grin lighting up his face, looking un-fucking-fairly handsome in his tailored black suit and the strands of his slicked-back hair coming loose.

“There it is,” Brett’s voice cuts into his thoughts. Jamie whips around to face his teammates; Brett and Devin are wearing matching grins that are far too knowing for Jamie’s comfort levels. His face heats up with a blush and it feels like he’s on fucking _fire._

“Yup, I saw you looking at Tyler like that on way too many roadies,” Ritchie confides, his jade green eyes lighting up with mischief. “And whenever we went out for team breakfasts, you’d always linger next to Segs at the buffet line.” Jamie knows just what he’s talking about, and feels his blush travel down the back of his neck. “And if you were seated apart, you’d both stare at each other with that goofy look on your faces.”

Devin nods his head, his lips in a thoughtful pout and gives a hum that may as well be an ‘I concur’. “Yep,” Shoresy finally says, his fingers stroking the dark bristles along his mouth and chin. “For me, it was on the plane.”

Jamie feels his forehead crinkle. “The plane?” he repeats, confused. “What about the plane?”

“Well, you guys would fall asleep on each other,” Shoresey elaborates and Jamie just wants the floor to open up and swallow him whole already. “Everyone else just, like, tries not to touch, but you guys...I dunno, you don’t care. You’ll cuddle up at movie night and sleep on top of each other, and, like, it’s nice.”

“Yeah, bro,” Ritchie agrees, smiling pleasantly up at Jamie.

He doesn’t know what to say, or even where to start. _We’re not dating, never have been, even though I’ve had a crush on Seggy practically since the day he moved into the apartment building Jordie and I shared._ Despite that though, Jamie’s oddly touched by his teammate’s support of the imaginary relationship he has with his liney.

Jamie clears his throat, not even sure what to say. “Uh,” he starts.

“Cap!” Klinger’s voice interrupts. He glances up and sees the tall blond with a green microphone, waving at him ultra-enthusiastically, a big goofy smile on his face. “Come, come! I’m interviewing you!”

“Augh, not again,” Ritchie complains next to him, but Jamie’s flooded with relief.

“Sorry, boys,” he says, turning to Ritchie and Shoresy, and frowning like he’s disappointed. “Gotta go work.” They wave him off, and he follows Klingberg.

* * *

“Thanks for the interview, cap,” Klinger says once the cameras go off, the microphone resting at his side. “It will be good to watch later.”

“Anytime, Klingberg,” Jamie replies with a smile, looking away. He’d lost track of Tyler during the course of the interview, and his eyes flit around the room, taking in the different mens’ heights and hairstyles, looking for one man in particular.

“Aw,” Klinger coos making Jamie flinch. _Fuck, how could I have forgotten?_ He reprimands himself, and forces himself to look at his teammate. Klingberg’s watching him like he’s a puppy that did something adorable, and Jamie has to stamp down on his self-mortification.

“You too, huh?” Jamie asks, dreading the answer.

Klinger gives a nonchalant shrug, his eyes twinkling and a teasing smile on his lips. “I have known since practice,” he admits, but doesn’t elaborate.

“John, you’ve been in Dallas for _eight years,”_ Jamie reminds him, horror at himself clawing up his throat. “We’ve had a _lot_ of practices.”

“Yes?” Klinger says, with an eyebrow raise; the unsaid _And?_ tacked on at the end for good measure.

“Nevermind,” Jamie replies with a sigh, his shoulders slumping.

“You two make adorable couple,” Klingberg reassures, giving Jamie’s shoulder a gentle nudge. Jamie feels another blush spreading across his face, staring determinedly down at the floor.

“Thanks,” he mutters. God, he can’t wait for this night to be over.

“Now go,” the defensemen insists, his big hands pressing at Jamie’s back, pushing him along. Jamie takes an unsteady step forward, surprised by his teammate’s enthusiasm, but eventually his feet get the hint and do their job supporting him. “Go find boyfriend, you will see me later.”

“O-okay,” Jamie stutters, taking the opportunity given to him.

As he wanders, he gives little soundbites to press, says hi to the right people and pokes his teammates. Finally he finds a guy tall enough to see the entire room, and nudges his shoulder.

“Hey Bish!” he yells to be heard over the music.

The goaltender turns around to face Jamie. “Hey, Benn,” he greets, smiling.

“Have you seen Seggy anywhere?” Jamie asks, his forehead wrinkling.

Bish’s mouth twists up into a teasing smile. “Lose track of the boyfriend?” he asks, and Jamie just wants this night to be over and done with.

“Yes,” he grunts, and he’s sure that his face will be permanently changed into a tomato by the end of the night.

“I think I saw him over with Rads by the poker table,” Bish replies, nodding a few tables and a mob of people away.

“Great,” Jamie replies, shooting him a grateful grin and giving his arm a friendly pat.

“Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?” Bish asks, stopping Jamie in his tracks.

Jamie already knows what he’ll ask, and rather he wouldn’t, but just internally sighs and accepts his fate. “Go ahead.”

“When did you and Tyler finally get your heads out of your asses and start dating?” he asks. “I mean, I’ve known since the fight with Nemeth.”

Jamie blinks. “But that was last October!” he shouts when the music gets particularly loud, and the chattering rises.

“I know!” Bish shouts back, a grin erupting on his face. “It was kinda obvious about how he felt about you after that!”

Jamie’s an optimist by nature, and he likes to think that he’s been around the hockey rink long enough to be able to predict things that’ll happen. But even this, seems unbelievable. Could it be possible that Tyler Seguin, the guy he’s been gone over since the day they met, might _like_ -like him back?

He doesn’t wanna get his hopes up, but even he can’t deny that there’s a small glow of it in his chest.

“Thanks!” he shouts at Bish, who’s gotten distracted by a cute girl, and Jamie starts to meander towards the poker tables.

Along the way he gets backpats and greetings from different people he doesn’t bother to pay enough attention to. When the first poker table proves fruitless, he nudges and slides through the crowd and gets to the second table. Instead of Tyler, he finds Rads sitting on the stool, his bulky frame wrapped up in a black suit and matching tie.

“Hey Rads,” Jamie starts, sidling up to his teammate.

“Hey Jamie,” Rads parrots back, his eyes glued to the cards, and his fingers fiddling with the multicolored chips.

“Having a good night?” asks Jamie, not wanting to be rude, and yet tamping down on his impatience just the same.

“Yes,” he replies, his eyes flicking briefly to meet Jamie’s before going back to the table.

“Good, good,” Jamie nods approvingly.

“Tyler’s at the bar,” Rads says, beating Jamie to the punch, throwing a couple of chips into the pot. Jamie looks up and sure enough, his best friend’s familiar broad back is to them, and Jamie practically drools at the line of his shoulders, the cut of his suit jacket, the way his pants highlight his delectable ass.

“Thanks,” Jamie replies with a chuckle, smiling at his predictability and starts to slide off the table.

“Oh, and Cap,” Rads adds, turning slightly in his seat to face Jamie. At this point Jamie isn’t surprised, and as Tyler’s second best friend, even expects for Rads to throw in his metaphorical two cents.

“Yeah?” Jamie asks, meeting his teammate’s eyes.

Rads turns fully to face him, one of his big hands resting on his hip and stares at Jamie assessingly. He raises a thick eyebrow and asks, “How long have you and Seggy been together?”

Jamie just shakes his head, he can feel a small smile growing on his lips. “God, I don’t even remember,” he answers, and even though it’s a complicated question, the answer’s nothing but simple. “It feels like forever.”

“Eh,” Rads replies, shrugging. “Or at least since mini golf.”

Jamie raises a questioning eyebrow. “Mini golf?” he echoes.

“Yeah, when we all went to play mini golf that time, you and Tyler were so slow,” a grin spreads across Rads’s face, and Jamie is mesmerised by the way it lights up recalling the memory. “We could hear you chirping each other all the way past the ninth hole. When we finished and you two were still at third, we just gave up waiting and got ice cream.”

“Yeah, I wondered where you had all gone,” Jamie admits, chuckling.

“When you two finally found us, Tyler looked so,” Rads pauses, searching for the right word, biting his lower lip in thought. “Alive. Vibrant, all those pretty English words.”

“Oh,” Jamie replies with a slow blink, and yeah. Now that he’s thinking about it, Tyler looked even more beautiful than usual. His face was glowing, and his eyes were bright enough to outshine Dallas.

Rads is already turning back to the table, his attention focusing again on the game. “Yeah, Tyler went on and on and on about what a great date that was,” Rads tells him, and that comment brings Jamie up short.

“He did?” he croaks, his heart beating double time in his chest.

“Yep,” he replies, throwing another chip into the pot before side-eyeing Jamie. “Don’t break his heart man, he really loves you.”

Jamie’s breath is caught in his throat, and it clicks with the effort to swallow. “I won’t,” he promises, then he raises himself off the table and as he passes his teammate, claps a hand on his shoulder.

Jamie’s not dumb. He's not known for his suaveness, has been called a dork on many occasion, and whenever he’s flirted, he’ll stutter and be embarrassed at the effort.

But he swears when Tyler turns in his seat at the bar and he sees Jamie approaching, he watches his best friend’s brown eyes turn dark with lust as he tracks his movements. Jamie almost feels like a tiger slinking towards him; the seductiveness dialed up to an eleven.

“Hey,” he says when he finally reaches Tyler’s side.

“Hey yourself,” he purrs, and his eyes take their time roving over Jamie’s body, making Jamie stand at attention. “Looking good there, 14.”

Jamie chuckles. “Not so bad yourself, 91.”

Tyler laughs, his whole face lighting up with it and Jamie’s stomach does a happy cartwheel. “What’re you doing after this?” he asks, tilting his head back at the party.

Tyler shrugs carelessly. “Nothing, why? What’re you thinking?”

“I wanted to know if you were up for a date,” Jamie replies, a slight pulse of anxiety making itself known in his stomach, before it settles back down again.

“Sure,” he answers easily, smiling coyly. Jamie’s heart bursts, releasing a thousand little butterflies into his chest. Then Tyler slides closer towards him, until he’s a trail of heat pressing along Jamie’s side, and then he slots his hand next to Jamie’s, his skin pleasantly soft, and threads their fingers together. It’s like a final piece to a puzzle Jamie didn’t know was being assembled slotting into place, and Jamie feels better than he ever has before.

“Nowhere I’d rather be than with my boyfriend,” Tyler says, his lips tantalizingly close.

Jamie feels some surprise at the title change; he doesn’t know how long Tyler’s thought they were dating, and he’s more than happy to find out and compare notes. For now, Jamie just wants to bask in this newness.

But then Tyler shoots him a wink, and Jamie can’t help the lust that coils down into his stomach. “Maybe this time I’ll even get lucky.”

 _Maybe that conversation’s better had sooner than later,_ Jamie thinks, his face heating up. But it’s not with embarrassment, and when his heart does a samba in his chest, it doesn’t feel bad at all. Excitement courses through Jamie’s veins and he finds that no matter what the next conversation they have will be, he can’t wait to take that next step with Tyler.

“Maybe,” Jamie murmurs. He leans forward, shortening that final inch, and presses a kiss against Tyler’s lips.


End file.
